“Paul Grignon’s 47-minute animated presentation of “Money as Debt” tells in very simple and effective graphic terms what money is and how it is being created. It is an entertaining way to get the message out. The Cowichan Citizens Coalition and its “Duncan Initiative” received high praise from those who previewed it. I recommend it as a painless but hard-hitting educational tool and encourage the widest distribution and use by all groups concerned with the present unsustainable monetary system in Canada and the United States.”

This film is a gem. It explains clearly and simply how the current financial system has evolved and its shortcomings. The banking system and particularly “fractional reserve” banking necessitates that some people will not be able to pay their debts as there is not enough money in the system to for everyone to pay back the interest they owe on their loans. It’s like a game of musical chairs and everything seems great until the music stops playing. As soon as the music stops, (as soon as lending stops for whatever reason) some people playing the game will not be able to find a chair (pay their debts).

Furthermore, the film highlights that this financial system is just one system and that there are others. Complimentary or local currency systems like LETS (Local Exchange Trading System) are able to provide liquidity or the ability for people to trade with each other when other systems fail.

We are so involved in the current financial system that it’s hard to see any way out of the credit crunch that it has created as a foregone conclusion. Understanding how the financial system works is the first step in learning how the system can be improved, complimented with other more sustainable systems or maybe even abandoned.